REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT on progress of implementation of Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM and an inventory of radioactive waste and spent fuel present in the Community's territory and the future prospects SECOND REPORT
Date: 2019-12-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, application of EU law, nuclear fuel, nuclear policy, nuclear safety, radioactive pollution, radioactive waste, waste management

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 17.12.2019  COM(2019) 632 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT on progress of implementation of Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM and an inventory of radioactive waste and spent fuel present in the Community's territory and the future prospects                       SECOND REPORT {SWD(2019) 435 final} - {SWD(2019) 436 final}  
 
 
 
 
1 

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 3 

2  RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND SPENT FUEL IN THE EUROPEAN UNION ........................... 3 

2.1 

Inventory estimates and trends ................................................................................... 4 

2.2  Future prospects ......................................................................................................... 7 

2.3  Challenges ahead ........................................................................................................ 8 

3  ENSURING  SAFE  AND  RESPONSIBLE  MANAGEMENT  OF  SPENT  FUEL  AND 
RADIOACTIVE WASTE ............................................................................................................. 10 

3.1  Transposition of the Directive into the national law ................................................ 10 

3.2  National frameworks ................................................................................................ 10 

3.3  Competent regulatory authorities ............................................................................. 11 

3.4  Licence holders ......................................................................................................... 11 

3.5  Expertise and skills ................................................................................................... 12 

3.6  Financial resources ................................................................................................... 12 

3.7  Transparency ............................................................................................................ 13 

3.8  National programmes ............................................................................................... 14 

3.9  Self-assessment and international peer reviews ....................................................... 16 

4  CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................... 17 

2 

 
 
 
1 

INTRODUCTION 

Under  Article  14(2)  of  Council  Directive  2011/70/Euratom1  on  the  responsible  and  safe 
management of spent fuel2 and radioactive waste3 (hereinafter 'the Directive') the Commission 
is  required to  submit to  the European Parliament and Council, every three  years, a progress 
report on the implementation of this Directive and an inventory of radioactive waste and spent 
fuel present in the Community’s territory, with a view to future developments. 

In 2017 the Commission presented for the  first  time to  the European Union (EU) citizens a 
comprehensive  overview  of  the  situation4,  which  covered  a  reporting  period  until  August 
2015 with a reference date of December 2013. The present second report of the Commission 
provides  an  update  of  progress  accomplished  by  Member  States  in  implementing  the 
Directive,  in  particular  on  the  measures  put  in  place  to  ensure  that  workers  and  the  general 
public  are  protected  against  dangers  arising  from  ionising  radiation  now  and  in  the  future, 
through the highest safety standards for radioactive waste and spent fuel management, and to 
avoid imposing undue burdens on future generations.  

This report is based on the Member States’ national reports which had to be submitted to the 
Commission by 23 August 2018 as per Article 14(1) of the Directive5. It addresses the overall 
EU inventory of radioactive waste and spent fuel (section 2), Member State compliance with 
the  key  aspects  of  the  Directive  (section  3)  and  sets  out  the  Commission’s  conclusion 
(section 4). 

The  report  is  accompanied  by  two  Staff  Working  Documents:  one  presenting  the  EU 
inventory of radioactive waste and spent fuel and its future prospects, with a reference date of 
December  2016  and  the  other  presenting  the  overall  situation  on  spent  fuel  and  radioactive 
waste management in the EU based on national reports’ analysis by the Commission. 

2  RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND SPENT FUEL IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 

All Member States generate radioactive waste through various activities ranging from medical 
applications  to  electricity  generation.  21  Member  States  also  manage  spent  nuclear  fuel  on 
their  territory.  Owing  to  its  radiological  properties  and  the  potential  hazard  it  poses  to 
workers, the general public, and the environment, the safe management of such material from 

1  

2  

3  

4  

5  

Council  Directive  2011/70/EURATOM  of  19  July  2011  establishing  a  Community  framework  for  the 
responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, OJ L 199, 2.8.2011, p. 48–56. 
Spent  fuel  is  “nuclear  fuel  that  has  been  irradiated  in  and  permanently  removed  from  a  reactor  core” 
(Article  3(11)  of  the  Directive)  and  that  is  no  longer  usable  in  its  present  form.  It  is  generated  by  the 
operation of nuclear reactors for power generation, research, training and demonstration. 
Radioactive  waste  is  “radioactive  material  in  gaseous,  liquid  or  solid  form  for  which  no  further  use  is 
foreseen or considered” (Article 3(7) of the Directive) and which has been classified as radioactive waste. 
Its generation is associated with the production of electricity in nuclear power plants or with non-power-
related uses of radioactive materials for medical, research, industrial and agricultural purposes. Please see 
SWD(2019) 436 on Progress of Implementation of Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom for the definitions 
of others important concepts as provided by the Directive, such as storage or disposal. 
Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on progress of implementation 
of Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM and an inventory of radioactive waste and spent fuel present in 
the  Community's  territory  and  the  future  prospects,  15  May  2017,  COM(2017)  236  final,  and 
corresponding SWD(2017) 159 final and SWD(2017) 161 final. 
The  analysis  presented  in  the  report  is  based  on  the  national  reports  and  the  newly  adopted  or  updated 
national programmes as submitted by Member States by March 2019. 

3 

 
 
                                                 
generation to disposal must be ensured. This requires containment and isolation from humans 
and the living environment over a long period of time. 

Most of the radioactive waste originates from nuclear power plants and associated nuclear fuel 
cycle activities. Smaller volumes of radioactive waste are generated as a result of non-power 
uses of  radioactive materials,  such  as  the manufacturing of radioisotopes for use in medical 
and industrial applications, or research facilities such as laboratories and research reactors.  

Each  Member  State  defines  its  own  electricity  generation  mix  and  as  of  the  reporting  date 
nuclear power plants are in operations in 14 countries6. Two other Member States, Lithuania 
and  Italy,  have  terminated  their  nuclear  power  programmes  and  are  decommissioning  their 
nuclear  installations.  These  16  Member  States7  with  nuclear  power  programmes  together 
account for 99.7% in volume of the radioactive waste inventory in the EU. 

At the time of reporting, 126 nuclear power reactors were in operation, with a total capacity of 
about 119 GWe, 90 nuclear power reactors were shut-down, and 3 were decommissioned. In 
addition, there were 82 research reactors in 19 Member States either in operation, long-term 
shutdown,  or  under  decommissioning8.  Spent  fuel  and  radioactive  waste  will  therefore 
continue  to  be  generated  in  the  future,  requiring  their  safe  and  long  term  management  until 
disposal. 

Under  the  Directive’s  requirements  the  Commission  provides  periodically  a  transparent  and 
comprehensive overview of the Union-wide inventories of spent  fuel and radioactive waste, 
including future prospects. This is key information to see whether Member States have taken 
reasonable  steps  in  their  national  policies  and  programmes  to  avoid  any  undue  burden  on 
future generations for the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste.  

2.1 

Inventory estimates and trends 

In the previous reporting cycle, the Commission emphasised the importance of developing a 
comprehensive and up-to-date inventory as a basis for Member States to set out an adequate 
national  programming,  cost  estimation  and  related  concepts  and  plans  for  the  safe  and 
responsible  management  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive  waste.  To  support  Member  States  in 
this area, the Commission services collaborate with the International Atomic Energy Agency 
(IAEA) and the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) on defining a harmonised set of data 
on  reporting  of  national  inventories  and  is  supporting  the  development  of  an  IAEA 
harmonised reporting tool. The Commission is also carrying out a study on benchmarking of 
national  inventories9  to  identify  common  aspects  with  respect  to  waste  classification,  best 
practices  and  challenges  with  respect  to  the  collection,  management  of  data  as  well  as 
estimation  of  current  and  future  inventories,  including  identification  and  treatment  of 
uncertainties. 

6  

7  

8  
9  

Belgium,  Bulgaria,  Czechia,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  Hungary,  the  Netherlands,  Romania,  Slovak 
Republic,  Slovenia,  Spain,  Sweden,  and  the  UK.  In  addition,  although  it  has  no  nuclear  power  plant 
within its own national borders, Croatia co-owns the Krsko nuclear power plant with Slovenia. 
For the purposes of this report,  those Member States that  have nuclear power reactors on their territory 
either operational or shut-down are indicated as Member States with a nuclear power programme. 
See the IAEA Research Reactor Database: https://nucleus.iaea.org/RRDB/RR/ReactorSearch.aspx. 
Benchmark Analysis of Member States Approaches to Definition of National Inventories for Radioactive 
Waste and Spent Fuel (2017-156) (ENER/D2/2017-156). 

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In  this  reporting  cycle  the  Commission  has  observed  improved  quality  of  inventory  data, 
particularly  in  forecasts  for  future  generation  of  waste.  One  third  of  the  Member  States 
(mainly those with  nuclear programmes) provided detailed inventory information. However, 
most  of  the  remaining  Member  States  reported  in  the  same  format  as  in  the  first  reporting 
cycle and their inventory reports were incomplete. 

Based on lessons learned in 20174 more than two thirds of Member States have reported their 
radioactive waste inventory using the classification scheme as per the IAEA standard GSG-110 
or  provided  matrixes  enabling  conversion  of  data  from  their  national  classification  scheme 
into  the  IAEA  standard.  Further  improvement  is  possible  if  all  Member  States  adopted  a 
similar approach. 

The estimated total inventory of radioactive waste on the EU territory at the end of 2016 was 
3 466 000 m3 (4.6 % increase over three years), corresponding to an average of about 7 liters 
per-capita  in  the  EU11.  71.6%  of  this  volume  has  been  disposed  of  (7%  increase  over  three 
years). Thus, in those Member States where disposal routes are open for very-low-level and 
low-level  waste,  the  process  from  generation  to  disposal  appears  generally  flowing.  On 
average  the  amount  of  the  radioactive  waste  in  storage  (983 000 m3)  did  not  significantly 
change in comparison to 2013. See Boxes 1-3 below for more details. 

10  
11  

‘Classification of Radioactive Waste’, General Safety Guide, IAEA, Vienna, 2009. 
The highest per-capita value is registered in Lithuania at about 31 liters. 

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Box 1 

Volumes and status of radioactive waste in the European Union, end of 2013 and 2016. 

Amounts (thousands m3) 

Stored 

Disposed of 

Total 

Year 

2013 

2016 

2013 

2016 

2013 

2016 

VLLW 

LLW 

ILW 

HLW 

237 

428 

326 

6 

234 

279 

369 

516 

603 

417 

2 025 

2 102 

2 453 

2 519 

326 

6 

12 

0 

12 

0 

338 

338 

6 

6 

Total 

997 

983 

2 316 

2 483 

3 313 

3 466 

Distribution  of  total  volumes  of  radioactive  waste  in  Member  States  with  a  nuclear  power 
programme, end of 2016. 

Distribution  of  radioactive  waste  by  class  has  not  changed  significantly  compared  to  2013 
with  very-low-level  and  low-level  waste  representing  90%.  Low-level  waste  dominates  EU 
radioactive  waste  inventory,  noting  two  specific  points  for  consideration:  i)  some  Member 
States  classify  very-low-level  and  low-level  waste  in  the  same  category  in  their  national 
classification system; and ii) some other Member States register partially or do not register the 
very-low-level waste in their national inventories. 

6 

StoredDisposed ofStoredDisposed of20132016 
 
 
 
 
 
Box 2 - Distribution of radioactive waste per category. 

Intermediate-level waste and high-level waste are generated and stored predominantly in the 
Member  States  with  nuclear  power  programmes.  At  the  end  of  201612  approximately 
58 000 tHM of spent fuel was stored in the EU, (7% increase over three years). About 1.5% 
of this spent fuel was stored in the Russian Federation pending reprocessing with the expected 
resulting material to be returned to the EU after 2024. 

All spent fuel present in the EU is currently in storage, as no civil disposal facility for spent 
fuel is in operation worldwide. The majority of Member States operating nuclear power plants 
intend  to  dispose  of  their  spent  fuel  in  deep  geological  facilities  without  reprocessing, 
although  two  Member  States13  are  considering  future  reprocessing  abroad.  With  the 
termination  of  reprocessing  activities  in  2018  at  THORP14  and  the  planned  ceasing  of 
reprocessing of spent fuel in the UK by 2020, France will be the only Member State with an 
industrial policy on reprocessing spent fuel domestically. 

2.2  Future prospects 

Based on the new inventory data, the Commission is in a position to present for the first time 
the future prospects of EU radioactive waste and spent fuel inventory by 2030. 

12 

13 
14 

The cut-off date for most data is end 2016 in order to reduce reporting burden on the Member States and 
facilitate  joint  reporting  with  the  Joint  Convention.  A  few  Member  States  have  provided  more  recent 
figures (i.e. end of 2017). Please see SWD on inventory for details. 
Czechia and Hungary. 
The Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant,  or THORP, is a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield in 
the UK. 

7 

VLLW15.6%LLW74.0%ILW10.2%HLW0.2%2013VLLW17.4%LLW72.7%ILW9,7%HLW0.2%2016 
 
 
 
                                                 
Box 3 - Evolution of radioactive waste (left) and spent fuel (right) inventories. 

As  in  the  previous  reporting  cycle,  the  level  of  detail  of  information  provided  by  Member 
States  varied  considerably,  in  particular  with  regard  to  waste  originated  from  non-power 
applications  and  decommissioning  of  nuclear  installations.  Since  most  national  programmes 
cover  periods  of  over  100  years,  Member  States  are  encouraged  to  work  on  estimates 
spanning until 2050 and to reduce as much as possible the level of uncertainties that has been 
observed by the Commission. 

It is expected that due to the planned shutdown and decommissioning of a number of nuclear 
facilities  the  amount  of  waste  will  increase  significantly  during  the  next  decade.  By  2030 
very-low-level  waste  amounts  are  expected  to  double,  while  the  other  waste  classes  are 
expected  to  increase  by  20-50%.  Therefore,  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  minimisation  of 
radioactive  waste  at  the  origin,  development  and  implementation  of  predisposal  options  to 
reduce waste volumes and the development of new storage or disposal facilities. 

2.3  Challenges ahead 

Disposal of very-low-level waste and low-level waste 

As reported in 2017 routes for disposal of very-low-level waste and low-level waste are open 
in most Member States with nuclear power plants. While progress is noted in development of 
new  disposal  facilities  in  the  same  group  of  Member  States15,  others  still  have  to  develop 
concrete  disposal  plans.  In  addition,  a  few  Member  States  reported  delays  in  the 
commissioning of planned near surface facilities.  

Overall,  the  situation  of  very-low-level  waste  and  low-level  waste  disposal  remains 
unchanged  since  the  last  report,  with  over  30  operational  disposal  facilities  in  12 Member 
States. About half of the Member States are planning to build new disposal facilities16 in the 

15 

16  

E.g. construction of new facilities in Bulgaria and Lithuania, and extension of existing facilities in Spain 
and Slovak Republic. 
See Table 8 of SWD(2019) 436 on Progress of Implementation of Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom.  

8 

0100002000030000400005000060000700008000020072010201320162030Mass of heavy metals, tHM010002000300040005000600020072010201320162030Volume, thousand m3HLWILWLLWVLLW 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
next decade. The remaining Member States do not have concrete plans.  

In  view  of  the  above  and  of  the  expected  increase  of  waste  volumes  for  decommissioning 
activities17,  development  and  implementation  of  predisposal  processes  to  reduce  waste 
volumes is becoming increasingly important. The Commission encourages Member States to 
implement waste reduction and optimisation measures, and to report on the concrete plans for 
disposal  of  all  radioactive  waste,  including  decommissioning  waste,  institutional  waste,  and 
other waste from remediation activities. 

Disposal of intermediate-level waste, high-level waste and spent fuel 

The  main  challenges  identified  by  the  Commission  in  2017  were  related  to  the  lack  of  
concrete disposal concepts and plans for intermediate-level waste, high-level waste and spent 
fuel in most Member States, often due to the need for policy decisions to be made or sites to 
be selected.18 In spite of the adoption or update of national programmes during the last three 
years, no significant progress was observed overall in this respect. 

All  Member  States  with  nuclear  power  programmes  except  one19  have  plans  to  develop 
geological  disposal  facilities.  Of these 15 Member States,  only  Finland, France  and Sweden 
have demonstrated concrete steps towards practical implementation. These 3 Member States 
are amongst the most advanced in the world. Globally, Finland20 is the first country where the 
construction  of  a  deep  geological  facility  has  begun  and  is  expected  to  be  in  operation  by 
2024.  It  will  be  followed  by  Sweden  in  2032  and  France  in  2035.  In  all  cases  a  few  years’ 
delay are noted in comparison to 2017. The remaining 12 Member States also have plans for a 
deep geological repository. They are at different stages of implementation between 2040s and 
2100s, however only a few of them reported progress in site selection.  

Figure 1. Planned start of operation of deep geological facilities 

The  engagement  of  Member  States  needs  to  increase  in  developing  long-term  management 
solutions  for  intermediate-level  waste,  high-level  waste,  and  spent  fuel,  including  research, 
development  and  demonstration  activities  as  soon  as  possible  to  avoid  placing  an  undue 

17 
18  
19  

20 

See Table 2 of SWD(2019) 436 on Progress of Implementation of Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom. 
See Table 7 of SWD(2017) 159 on Progress of Implementation of Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom.  
The  Commission  has  referred  this  Member  State  to  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the  EU,  which  delivered  its 
judgment  on  11  July  2019  (C-434/18),  upholding  the  claims  of  the  Commission.  The  judgment  is 
available on the Court’s website:  
http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=216079&pageIndex=0&doclang=FR&
mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=1798248 
Finland  is  also  the  first  country  in  the  world  that  is  currently  planning  to  develop  a  second  geological 
disposal facility to ensure safe disposal of the high-level waste and intermediate-level waste from the new 
build reactors by Fennovoima. 

9 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
burden  on  future  generations.  All  necessary  measures  should  be  taken  in  order  to  ensure  at 
policy and technical level that no excessive delays in project implementation are encountered 
in  the  future.  As  such,  all  Member  States  should  optimise  planning,  commit  adequate 
resources, perform  the necessary research  and training  activities and engage with  the public 
and other stakeholders in order to accelerate implementation. 

3  ENSURING SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT OF SPENT FUEL AND 

RADIOACTIVE WASTE 

3.1  Transposition of the Directive into the national law 

Member States were required to incorporate the Directive into their national legal framework 
by  23  August  2013.  To  date  the  Commission  received  transposition  measures  from  all 
Member  States  and  closed  all  open  infringement  procedures  for  non-communication  of 
measures transposing the Directive21.  

On the substance of the transposing measures, in 2018 the Commission concluded that more 
than  half  of  the  Member  States  had  not  correctly  transposed  the  Directive’s  provisions  and 
thus  started  infringement  procedures  against  15  Member  States22.  The  main  issues 
encountered  concern  the  requirements  on:  financial  resources  (Article  9)  for  almost  half  of 
Member  States,  safety  demonstrations  of  facilities  or  activities  (Article  7(3)),  expertise  and 
skills  (Article  8)  and  definitions  (Article  3).  For  one  third  of  the  Member  States  the 
Commission has assessed as not adequate the provisions requiring effective independence and 
sufficient  legal  powers,  financial  and human resources of the competent national  authorities 
(Article 6(2) and (3)). 

3.2  National frameworks 

Overall, since the first reporting cycle, most Member States have made significant efforts to 
improve  their  national  framework  and  implement  the  Directive.  This  has  been  done  mainly 
through  adoption  of  new 
improvement  of  organisational  arrangements, 
self-assessments, international peer-review results and corresponding actions as a response to 
the Commission assessments.  

legislation, 

In  Member  States  with  a  nuclear  power  programme  national  frameworks  are  generally 
comprehensive  and  more  developed  in  comparison  with  other  countries.  About  half  of  the 
other countries have progressed well in setting out an adequate national framework. The rest 
faces challenges related to (i) decision on a long-term solution for management of radioactive 
waste  and  spent  fuel;  (ii)  decision  on  new  nuclear  power  generation,  or  (iii)  revision  of 
legislation23. 

21  

22  

23 

transposing 

In  November  2013,  the  Commission  had  sent  letters  of  formal  notice  to  13  Member  States  for 
non-communication  of  national  measures 
four  opened 
non-communication cases in 2016, three (Austria, Germany, and France) were closed within one year and 
the last one in January 2018.  
Austria,  Czechia,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Croatia,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Italy,  Latvia,  Malta,  the  Netherlands, 
Poland, Portugal, Romania, and the UK. The cases against Czechia and Ireland were closed in July 2019. 
E.g.  due  to  the  transposition  of  another  directive  such  as  Council  Directive  2013/59/Euratom  of  5 
December  2013  laying  down  basic  safety  standards  for  protection  against  the  dangers  arising  from 
repealing  Directives  89/618/Euratom,  90/641/Euratom, 
exposure 

the  Directive.  Out  of 

radiation,  and 

ionising 

to 

10 

 
 
                                                 
Significant organisational changes have occurred in two Member States24 related to the roles 
and  responsibilities  of  radioactive  waste  management  organisations,  and  in  a  few  Member 
States changes occurred related to the competent national authorities. 

3.3  Competent regulatory authorities 

In  2017  the  Commission  concluded  that  all  Member  States  have  one  or  more  competent 
regulatory authorities, in line with Article 6(1) of the Directive. 

In the current reporting period a few Member States25 introduced changes to their competent 
regulatory  authorities  aimed  at  creation  of  new  authorities,  reorganisation,  consolidation  of 
functions and other Member States are planning to introduce changes soon26. 

The Commission has engaged with several Member States to clarify, demonstrate or achieve 
functional independence of the competent regulatory authority. In this regard, there is a need 
for some Member States to report on the roles and responsibilities of local/regional competent 
authorities dealing with radioactive waste management. 

The majority of Member States have mechanisms to retain skilled staff within the regulatory 
authorities. On the other hand, a few Member States acknowledged lack of human resources. 

Half  of  the  Member  States  reported  on  the  financial  resources  available  to  their  competent 
regulatory  authorities.  As  Member  States  in  some  cases  provide  more  information  in  their 
Joint  Convention27  report,  the  Commission  encourages  those  to  make  use  of  the  latter  and 
submit the relevant information under Article 14(1) of the Directive, as required. In general, 
more detailed information is needed in the next reporting cycle. 

3.4  Licence holders 

As  in  the  previous  reporting  cycle,  all  Member  States  have  reported  legal  requirements  to 
ensure that the primary responsibility for spent fuel and radioactive waste management rests 
with license holders28. 

A challenge for half of the Member States was the transposition of the requirement for regular 
assessment, verification  and continuous  improvement of safety  of facilities or activities in  a 
systematic and verifiable manner. The majority of Member States reported the status of safety 
assessments  activities,  the  latest  or  planned  safety  demonstrations  as  part  of  the  licensing 
processes, and on the application of integrated management systems or quality assurance. One 
third has yet to report on how these requirements are implemented in practice. Two Member 
States have amended their legislation to address integrated management system, while a few 
Member States have not addressed the management system in their reports.  

Overall, Member States have established legal requirements on licence holders to provide for 
and maintain adequate financial and human resources, except for five countries for which the 

96/29/Euratom, 97/43/Euratom and 2003/122/Euratom, OJ L 13, 17.1.2014, p. 1–73. 
Lithuania and Germany. 
Germany, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal and the UK. 
Austria and Belgium. 
Joint  Convention  on  the  Safety  of  Spent  Fuel  management  and  on  the  Safety  of  Radioactive  Waste 
Management. 
Article 7 of the Directive. 

24  
25  
26  
27  

28  

11 

 
 
                                                                                                                                                         
infringement  procedures  were  launched  in  2018.  An  adequate  assessment  of  the  status  of 
financial  and  human  resources  of  license  holders  is  difficult  due  to  the  limited  information 
provided  by  Member  States  in  their  national  reports  (less  than  a  third  reported  this 
information). As a good example, a few Member States addressed provisions and measures in 
case of bankruptcy to ensure long-term safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. 
The Commission encourages Member States to provide further details on these matters in the 
next reporting cycle. 

3.5  Expertise and skills 

The  majority  of  Member  States  have  legal  requirements  in  place  to  ensure  the  training  and 
education of staff of all parties involved, however in 2018 the Commission required a third of 
Member States to improve the legislation in line with Article 8 of the Directive. 

Overall, development  and maintenance of  expertise and skills  is  better defined and  reported 
for  regulatory  authorities  than  for  other  stakeholders  and  licensees.  Member  States  with 
nuclear  power  programmes  have  in  general  more  developed  formal  arrangements  for 
education  and  training,  including  research,  while  this  aspect  remains  a  challenge  for  other 
countries.    

Research and development activities are well covered by one third of the Member States, all 
being  countries  with  nuclear  power  programmes.  All  countries  without  nuclear  power 
programmes  have  difficulties  in  covering  the  research  and  development  requirements  of  the 
Directive. This is an aspect that needs to be improved in the future. 

3.6  Financial resources 

In  2017  the  Commission  presented  for  the  first  time  a  comprehensive  EU  overview  of  the 
total cost for radioactive waste and spent fuel management. In order to be able to conclude on 
the  accuracy  and  completeness  of  cost  estimates,  the  Commission  concluded  that  national 
programmes  should  be  revised  to  include  more  information.  Therefore,  it  urged  Member 
States  to  fully  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  Directive  related  to  cost  assessments 
(Article 12(1)(h)) and to financing mechanisms (Article 12(1)(h) and Article 9). 

Based on the updated data from about a third of Member States, the new estimate of the total 
cost of the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste in the EU is in the range of EUR 
422  -  566  billion29,30,  compared  to  EUR  400  billion  of  the  previous  report.  Taking  into 
account  the  ongoing  re-evaluation  of  costs  and  planned  revision  of  a  number  of  national 
programmes (about a third) in the near future, these estimates are expected to change. Until 
the timing of the costs is clearer in all Member States, allowing for a time value adjustment of 
the  costs,  these  figures  should  be  taken  as  preliminary.  In  any  case,  this  cost  is  a  fraction 
(<10%) of the unit price for electricity produced from nuclear power plants in the EU. 

About half of the Member States provided information about the status of the funds for spent 

29  

30  

The  upper  boundary  is  mainly  driven  by  the  UK  estimate  of  the  undiscounted  cost  scenarios  of  the 
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.  
See detail per Member State in the SWD(2019) 436 on Progress of Implementation of Council Directive 
2011/70/Euratom. Information from ongoing infringement procedures has however not been included. 

12 

 
 
                                                 
fuel  and/or  radioactive  waste  management  although  with  different  levels  of  detail31.  The 
Commission  notes  that  a  number  of  Member  States  declared  insufficiency  of  funds  to  date, 
while two32 expressly rely on EU funding. 

In view of the ongoing revision of the cost estimates in most Member States and the need for 
building confidence in the results, Member States need to  provide a complete assessment of 
the  national  programme  costs  describing  the  underlying  basis  and  hypotheses  for  that 
assessment,  including  a  profile  over  time.  This  should  include  all  steps  of  the  radioactive 
waste  and  spent  fuel  management  covered  by  private  generators  and  state  budget.  The 
Commission deems that further information and analysis are required. 

The  Commission,  through  the  Decommissioning  Funding  Group  and  collaboration  with 
international organisations, works33 to improve the understanding of financial issues related to 
nuclear  decommissioning  and  management  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive  waste.  This  also 
includes cost estimation methods. 

3.7  Transparency 

In 2017, the Commission encouraged Member States to report on the mechanisms in place to 
ensure public participation in the decision-making process beyond public consultation, such as 
working  groups,  advisory  bodies  or  national  committees.  To  date  all  national  reports  and 
notified national programmes provide detailed information on the policy and legal framework 
regulating  the  transparency  arrangements.  Member  States  inform  the  public  via  web  sites, 
reports,  media,  etc.  and  consult  the  public  and  stakeholders  via  different  mechanisms  for 
public  information.  Over  half  of  the  Member  States  underwent  strategic  environmental 
assessments  of  their  national  programmes  and  over  two  thirds  consult  the  public  in  the 
framework of the environmental impact assessment as a precondition for issuing licenses for 
nuclear and radioactive waste management installations. 

In  general,  countries  with  nuclear  power  programmes  make  use  of  a  broader  variety  of 
techniques and channels of information. Some specific programmes, namely those concerning 
deep geological disposal, have led to the adoption of ad hoc communication strategies and the 
undertaking  of  great  scale  information  campaigns.  A  few  Member  States  emphasised  the 
importance  of  promoting  education  of  citizens  to  improve  public  understanding  and 
acceptance  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive  waste  management,  e.g.  through  student  education 
systems.  

The  Commission  stresses  the  importance  of  effective  implementation  of  the  transparency 
requirements  of  the  Directive  and  the  next  reporting  on  progress  of  implementation  in 
practice. 

31  
32 
33  

See Table 10 in SWD(2019) 436. 
Lithuania and Estonia. 
This will build on the recent study carried out by the Commission on the Member States Cost Assessment 
and Financing mechanisms for Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management with Regards to Council 
Directive 2011/70/Euratom (2017-160), ENER/D2/2016-471-1. 

13 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
3.8  National programmes 

The  Directive  sets  out  a  key  requirement  for  Member  States  to  establish  and  maintain  a 
national policy on safe and long-term management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. These 
policies  shall  abide  by  general  principles34  such  as:  ultimate  responsibility  of  the  Member 
State in which the spent fuel and radioactive waste are generated, minimisation of radioactive 
waste  generation,  proper  consideration  of  interdependencies,  safe  long-term  management 
based  on  passive  safety  features,  graded  approach,  costs  to  be  borne  by  waste  generators, 
adequate funds available when needed, and evidence-based and documented decision-making 
processes for all stages of the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. The policies 
should  be  translated  into  concrete  plans  of  actions  in  each  Member  State  national 
programme35. 

In  2017  the  Commission  concluded  that  most  Member  States  had  established  ultimate 
responsibilities for spent fuel and radioactive waste management. However, only a third of the 
Member  States  had  established  comprehensive  policies  addressing  all  types  of  radioactive 
waste  and  spent  fuel,  as  well  as  all  stages  of  their  management.  The  Commission  followed 
this  up  by  launching  infringement  procedures  against  the  non-compliant  Member  States  in 
2018. Since then, about  one third of the Member States reported on  development of new or 
updated national policies. 

To  date,  seven  Member  States  that  have  opted  for  spent  fuel  reprocessing  will  receive 
radioactive  waste  after  reprocessing  (in  the  EU  or  outside)  in  the  period  2018-2052.  Two 
Member States36 with a nuclear power programme have kept this option open until a decision 
is made. Most Member States also plan to return the spent fuel from research reactors in line 
with Article 4(3)(b) of the Directive to the supplier (i.e. USA and the Russian Federation) in 
the period 2019-2026 or if this will not be possible, to develop disposal solutions. 

While a few countries consider the option of a shared solution for disposal, in particular for 
high-level waste and spent fuel, no significant development has been observed in practice in 
the  last  three  years.  The  viability  of  this  option  is  limited  by  a  legal  ban  of  import  of 
radioactive waste in about half of the Member States37. 

The Commission notes significant progress with respect to the development and adoption of 
national  programmes  for spent fuel  and radioactive waste since the first  reporting cycle. To 
date all Member States  notified their final national programmes, except  Italy. Since the first 
Commission report in May 2017, five Member States38 notified their new programmes and six 
notified their updates39. In 2018 the Commission referred three Member States to the Court of 
Justice  of  the  EU  (CJEU)  for  non-notification  of  their  national  programmes.  While  two  of 
these  cases  were  withdrawn  by  the  Commission,  following  the  notification  by  the  Member 

34  
35  
36 
37  
38  
39  

Article 4 of the Directive. 
Articles 11 and 12 of the Directive. 
Czechia and Hungary. 
See Table 6 in SWD(2019) 436. 
Czechia, Portugal, Latvia, Austria and Croatia. 
France, Ireland, Estonia, Slovenia, Malta and Czechia. 

14 

 
 
                                                 
States of their final programmes, the Court of Justice upheld the claims of the Commission on 
the case against Italy in a judgement delivered on 11 July 201940.  

As  mentioned  above,  the  Commission  urged  16  Member  States  in  2018  and  one  Member 
State at the beginning of 2019 to fully comply with the requirements of the Directive related 
to  the  national  programmes41,42.  The  Commission  concluded  that  most  of  them  have  not 
adequately  addressed  the  assessment  for  the  national  programmes  costs  (Article  12(1)(h)). 
The  other  main  challenges  identified  are:  the  setting  of  financing  mechanisms  ensuring 
sufficient funding for the national programme implementation (Articles 12(1)(i) and 5(1)(h)); 
the  definition  of  adequate  timeframes  and  milestones  for  the  entire  national  programme, 
including  disposal  (Article  12(1)(b));  and  the  definition  of  key  performance  indicators  for 
monitoring the implementation of the programme (Article 12(1)(g)). 

Five Member States43 plan to revise their national programmes by the end of 2019 in order to 
address  non-compliance  with  the  Directive  identified  by  the  Commission.  With  the  six 
Member States that notified their updated programmes, this leads to updated programmes in 
more than one third of the Member States.   

All  Member  States  have  developed  concepts  or  plans,  and  technical  solutions  for  the 
management  of  radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel  in  the  short  term.  This  includes  in  general 
predisposal  concepts  up  to,  and  including,  interim  storage.  Disposal  concepts,  plans  and 
technical solutions are in place for very-low-level waste and low-level waste. For high-level 
waste,  as  well  as  spent  nuclear  fuel,  further  efforts  are  necessary.  In  view  of  the  long 
timespans foreseen for the disposal of spent fuel, Member States have put in place plans for 
long-term storage of spent fuel, mainly planning to or already using dry storage technology. 

Monitoring progress towards implementation 

Radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel  management  is  a  long  process  and  this  is  reflected  in  the 
programmes of 27 Member States that span until 2155.  

In comparison with the adopted programmes, Member States with clear disposal programmes 
for  all  waste  types  reported  slight  delays,  which  currently  do  not  affect  the  overall 
implementation  of  the  national  programmes.  In  addition,  a  few  years’  delay  has  also  been 
reported  by  Member  States  with  plans  for  siting  and  development  of  geological  disposal 
facilities.  This  needs  to  be  monitored  to  ensure  that  this  delay  does  not  result  in  a 
postponement of decisions and undue burdens to future generations. In case of further delay, 
Member  States  should  evaluate  the  implications,  including  costs  for  their  national 
programmes. 

One  of  the  main  challenges  identified  for  most  Member  States’  programmes  in  2017  was  a 
clear  definition  and  implementation  of  key  performance  indicators  for  monitoring  progress 

40  

41  

42  

43  

Austria  (C-487/18,  case  withdrawn  in  November  2018),  Croatia  (C-391/18,  case  withdrawn  in  March 
2019) and Italy - C-434/18. 
Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Spain, Ireland, Lithuania, The 
Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the UK in May 2018. Latvia in January 2019. 
To  date  all  but  one  (Belgium)  responses  to  the  infringement  procedure  (letter  of  formal  notice)  were 
received. 
Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece, Poland and Romania. 

15 

 
 
                                                 
towards  implementation  of  the  national  programmes  as  required  by  Article  12(1)(g)  of  the 
Directive. These indicators are an important tool not fully exploited thus far. 

The  Commission  concluded  that  over  a  third  of  the  Member  States  have  not  defined  key 
performance indicators in line with the Directive and thus called on these Member States to 
comply  with  the  relevant  requirements.  The  key  performance  indicators  are  used  to 
conclusively, objectively and quantitatively measure progress towards set targets (for example 
the  timely  achievement  of  milestones).  Well-designed  key  performance  indicators  increase 
transparency  about  performance  related  to  national  policy  objectives,  such  as  safety  of  the 
management  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive  waste  and  the  responsible  use  of  financial 
resources.  

Member States have to develop, implement and review key performance indicators, relevant 
for  the  scope  and  scale  of  their  national  programmes  and  report  on  the  outcomes  in  more 
detail  to  the  Commission  in  the  next  reporting  cycle  in  2021.  The  Commission  services  are 
planning to support Member States in addressing this challenge through a study in 202044, and 
building  on  the  outcomes  of  the  Commission  workshop  on  the  lessons  learnt  from  the 
implementation of the Directive held in November 2017. 

Research, development and demonstration activities 

In 2017, the Commission emphasised that research, development and demonstration activities 
should be clearly related to activities, timeframes, concepts, plans, and milestones defined in 
the  national  programmes.  It  also  encouraged  Member  States  involved  in  European  research 
initiatives to explain how these projects support in practical terms the implementation of their 
national programmes.  

To  date  the  overall  situation  on  implementation  of  this  provision  remains  the  same  -  four 
Member States45 operate five underground research laboratories for spent fuel, intermediate-
level  waste  and  high-level  waste  disposal  and  four46  Member  States  plan  to  develop  such 
laboratories  in  the  2020-2055  period47.  The  second  national  reports  do  not  provide  detailed 
information  on  research,  development  and  demonstration  activities  to  support  solutions  for 
safe long-term management of spent fuel and radioactive waste in Member States. One third 
of Member States, mainly those with large and medium sized nuclear programmes, provided 
details  on  their  research  programmes,  and  presented  the  progress  made.  Member  States 
without  spent  fuel  and  with  small  amounts  of  radioactive  waste  do  not  develop  specific 
research,  development  and  demonstration  programmes  but  mainly  rely  on  international 
cooperation projects in line with their needs. 

3.9  Self-assessment and international peer reviews 

Many  Member  States  reported  that  the  IAEA  international  peer  reviews  IRRS  (Integrated 
Regulatory  Review  Service)  and  ARTEMIS  (Integrated  Review  Service  for  Radioactive 
Waste  and  Spent  Fuel  Management,  Decommissioning  and  Remediation)  are  significant 

44 

45  
46 
47  

Study on the Key performance indicators for monitoring implementation of national programmes on safe 
and long term management of spent fuel and radioactive waste (2019-209 V1.2). 
Belgium, Finland, France and Sweden. 
Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Romania (latter as per national programme). 
Hungary reported scheduled operation in 2032. 

16 

 
 
                                                 
contributors  to  the  improvement  of  the  national  framework.  In  the  reporting  period  14 
Member States48 have organised IRRS and/or ARTEMIS missions. 

Similar  to  the  first  reporting  cycle  most  Member  States  have  provided  information  on  self-
assessments  and  international  peer  reviews  of  the  regulatory  authorities  (IRRS).  To  date  all 
EU Member States have carried out or planned49 IRRS review missions. 

Member  States  progressed  significantly  in  planning  and  carrying  out  self-assessments  and 
peer  reviews  of  the  national  programmes  and/or  national  frameworks.  Six  Member  States50 
have completed ARTEMIS review missions in 2017-2019 and four planned to carry them out 
by the end of 201951. Most of the remaining (all except three) Member States have developed 
a schedule for inviting such peer reviews by August 2023. Those 3 Member States should put 
the necessary measures in place for a timely self-assessments and invitation of such reviews. 
In addition, although the IRRS and ARTEMIS reports are publicly available in most Member 
States, Member States need to notify the outcomes of such reviews and their plans to address 
recommendations and suggestions as per Article 14(3) of the Directive.  

4  CONCLUSIONS 

In the last three years Member States have made a number of steps towards demonstrating that 
they have been taking reasonable actions to ensure that no undue burden is passed to future 
generations  and  that  radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel  is  managed  safely.  Experience  in 
decommissioning  and  waste  management  is  progressively  being  gained,  thus  creating  better 
conditions for setting effective policies to ensure safe and timely decommissioning and waste 
disposal.  However,  more  needs  to  be  done.  This  second  reporting  cycle  has  confirmed  the 
Commission views presented to the Council and Parliament in 2017, as Member States need 
to further accelerate in addressing key challenges.  

Primarily, the Commission encourages Member States, which have not yet done so, to take a 
swift  decision  on  their  policies,  concepts  and  plans  for  the  disposal  of  radioactive  waste,  in 
particular intermediate-level waste and high-level waste. Member States that consider shared 
solutions, should cluster up and take practical measures, including site-specific matters. 

Another key challenge remains ensuring that adequate funds will be available for the costs of 
national programmes. In order to tackle it, Member States must improve the cost assessment, 
make  estimations/decisions  on  their  timing,  and  review  both  elements  periodically  and 
consistently with their national programme. 

EU  level  action  on  radioactive  waste  classification  schemes,  criteria  for  pre-disposal 
management  and  qualification  processes  may  help  opening  cross  border  collaboration 
between  Member  States  on  sharing  technical  and  licensing  practices  on  final  disposal 
solutions and creating opportunities for the EU-wide market in equipment and services related 
to decommissioning and radioactive waste. 

48 

49  
50 
51  

Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, France, Luxembourg, Hungary, Poland,  
Romania, Slovak Republic, Spain, and The Netherlands . 
Latvia and Portugal. 
Poland, France, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Estonia and Spain. 
Latvia, Germany, Estonia and Romania. 

17 

 
 
                                                 
The  Commission  notes  different  stages  of  implementation  of  the  national  programmes. 
Several  Member  States  reported  a  few  years'  delays  in  the  implementation  of  programmes, 
including  for  the  first  geological  disposal  facilities.  In  most  Member  States,  further  work  is 
needed in developing and implementing clear key performance indicators to monitor progress 
in effective and transparent ways, and to ensure timely accomplishments.  

Furthermore,  the  inventory  projections  for  the  scope  of  the  national  programmes,  including 
decommissioning  waste,  institutional  waste  and  waste  from  remediation  activities,  and  the 
demonstration of sufficient capacities for storage and disposal, should be improved. 

The Commission notes that further work is needed by Member States to clarify, demonstrate 
or  achieve  functional  independence  of  the  competent  regulatory  authority.  Some  Member 
States  need  to  establish  also  adequate  provisions  requiring  sufficient  financial  and  human 
resources of the competent national authorities. 

The ongoing review and update of the national programmes taking into account the outcomes 
of  self-assessments  and  international  peer  review  results  remain  of  high  importance  in 
building stakeholders’ trust and confidence in the management of these materials in the EU. 
Significant steps towards conducting and planning the self-assessment and international peer 
reviews  have  been  taken  so  that  competent  authorities,  national  frameworks  and  national 
programmes  benefit  from  best  practice  and  international  safety  standards  in  the  field.  The 
Commission  encourages  Member  States  to  share  outcomes  of  these  reviews,  engage  in 
transparent  dialogue  with  stakeholders,  and  facilitate  the  exchange  of  best  practices  and 
knowledge at EU level. 

Research, development and training also remain important in delivering long-term solutions for 
high-level and intermediate-level waste and spent fuel management. 

Many  Member  States  need  to  improve  the  quality  of  their  national  reports,  notified  to  the 
Commission.  Information missing, or repeated from  the previous reporting cycle, as well as 
listing  the  requirements  instead  of  indicating  progress  “on  the  ground”,  do  not  give  the 
Commission the necessary information to report at EU level. 

To  ensure  full  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the  Directive  related  to  the  national 
legislations  and  national  programmes,  the  Commission  has  initiated  several  infringement 
procedures against Member States in the past reporting cycle. It has also taken legal actions 
against three Member States for the non-notification of their national programmes, which led, 
for  one  of  these  cases,  to  a  judgement  of  the  Court  of  Justice  upholding  the  claims  of  the 
Commission.  The  Commission  will  follow  up  these  actions  and  pursue  its  work  to  support 
Member States in fully applying the Euratom legislation on responsible and safe management 
of spent fuel and radioactive waste.  

18